In “Blackbringer” first book in the “Fairies of Dreamdark” series by Laini Taylor, we follow Magpie Windwitch, the granddaughter of the west wind. She is on a self-appointed mission across the world to return devils released from their bottles back to the ancient prisons constructed for them by the Djinn. She’s an unusual fairy, for her kind normally stay in the confines of the deep forest, but she’s developed into a powerful fighter and magic user in years of hunting. There is no beast that can escape her. Until the day she comes on the trail of a devil that’s doesn’t leave the usual signs of its passing. A creature that embodies darkness and consumes everything in its path. The ancient Blackbringer, long thought to be a myth.
As Magpie hunts down the secret to containing the Blackbringer her search will lead her to a force that has been lost since the dawn of time. The ancient Djinn king who molded the world. As her quest takes her to her homeland of Dreamdark and even beyond the veil of life itself, she’ll have to learn how to master a power beyond anything the fairies have wielded before.
This book wasn’t at all what I expected, but it was delightful. The book is much grittier than I would have expected from the back cover description. The surprise factor in this really helped keep me hooked.
The world building in this book was very different and interesting. The fire spirits crafting the world as a cloth and wrapping themselves in it to keep out the void was actually really cool to read about, especially when the djinn king started to come into play. The fairy afterlife is also a very cool addition that really made things interesting when Magpie went to visit it.
The characters were really fun to follow and based on this book I’d say Laini Tyler has a talent for making a character real in a very short amount of time. While I didn’t like all the characters, even the ones that kind of annoyed me were still interesting and didn’t dampen my enjoyment of the book.
One of the best aspects of this book was the villain, the Blackbringer. As his backstory is revealed he becomes in part a tragic figure, the victim of his own choices and circumstances. Even as he continues to be an ominous, all-consuming force, you can’t help but feel sorry for him, as his very nature makes his existence in the world torture, and all he wants is to be happy and free again.
Filled with kick-butt fairies, powerful enemies, and interesting characters and world-building, Blackbringer easily earns 4/5 stars from me.
